Peace is the Way

On the occasion of Buddha Purnima, we present a few pictures taken at Ajanta Caves.

…in front of this art it is not enough to look at it and respond with the aesthetic eye and the imagination, but we must look also into the form for what it carries and even through and behind it to pursue the profound suggestion it gives into its own inﬁnite. The religious or hieratic side of Indian sculpture is intimately connected with the spiritual experiences of Indian meditation and adoration, —those deep things of our self-discovery which our critic calls contemptuously Yogic hallucinations,—soul realisation is its method of creation and soul realisation must be the way of our response and understanding. (Sri Aurobindo, CWSA, Vol. 20, pp. 290-291)

Photographer: Suhas Mehra

Please do not reproduce or copy any of the photographs without explicit permission. All rights reserved.

Enter the CaveCome into the LightDhyanam

The figure of the Buddha achieves the expression of the infinite in a finite image, …the illimitable calm of Nirvana in a human form and visage. (p.291)

SanghamBliss

… the unique character of Indian painting, the peculiar appeal of the art of Ajanta springs from the remarkably inward, spiritual and psychic turn which was given to the artistic conception and method by the pervading genius of Indian culture.(p.303)

Mahaparinirvana

The Indian sculptor is concerned with embodying spiritual experiences and impressions, not with recording or glorifying what is received by the physical senses. (p. 293)